Actinea and Graecina (Gracinea) VV MM (AC)
4th century. Actinea was beheaded at Volterra, Etruria, during the persecution of Diocletian. Their relics were found in 1140 in the Camaldolese church of SS. Justus and Clement in Volterra, Italy (Benedictines, Roeder). In art the two are depicted as maidens with daggers (Roeder).

Aurelian of Arles B (RM)
Died in Lyons, France, June 16, c. 550. Aurelian became bishop of Arles in 546. Pope Vigilius appointed him papal legate in Gaul. He founded a monastery and a convent dedicated to Our Lady. He enriched them with the relics of many saints, including a piece of the True Cross, and Saints Stephen, Peter and Paul, John, James, Andrew, Gennesius, Symphorianus, Victor, Hilary, Martin, Caesarius, and others. For each of his foundations he drew up a rule based on that of Saint Caesarius, which can still be seen in the Code of Saint Benedict of Aniane. In the rules he mentions the commemoration of the faithful departed and the living at the altar. In the commemoration of the saints he adds in particular those martyrs and confessors whose relics the church possessed. The self-styled Aurelian the Sinner assisted at the council of Orléans in 549. His tomb is in the chapel of Saint Nizier in Lyons (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

Aureus, Justina, and Companions MM (RM)
Date unknown. During an invasion of the Huns, Saint Aureus, bishop of Mainz, Germany, was driven from his see and was followed by his sister, Justina, as well as others. On their return, while the bishop was celebrating Mass, he and the others were murdered in the church (Benedictines). Saint Aureus is pictured as a bishop murdered by the Huns at the altar, while celebrating Mass. Sometimes he is shown with his sister Justina murdered by him (Roeder).

Benno of Meissen B (RM)
Born at Hildesheim, Germany, in 1010; died on June 16, 1106; canonized in 1523 or 1525 by Pope Adrian VI; feast day formerly August 3.
Benno, a spirited saint who died at a great age, was a noble Saxon by birth. He was educated at Saint Michael's Abbey in Hildesheim. After serving at court, he became a canon of Goslar, an important imperial chapel, and chaplain to Emperor Henry IV. The emperor also nominated him to be bishop of Meissen, Saxony. Benno is one of the protagonists in the quarrel between Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) and Henry IV over lay investiture. He upheld the former but not at all times with equal zeal.

Thus the history begins. During the war between Henry and the Saxons, Benno provided lukewarm support to his compatriots. In consequence of his disloyalty to the emperor, when Henry invaded Meissen, his soldiers occupied the bishopric's property until Henry was excommunicated by the pope. At that time Benno regained his liberty.

Then Benno participated in the synod of Forcheim (1078), when Rudolf was elected emperor. In 1085 Benno supported Gregory VII, but was deposed by Henry's partisans at the Diet of Mainz. After Gregory's death that year, Benno pledged allegiance to the antipope Guibert and recovered his see. In 1097, however, he once again supported the lawful pope, Urban II.

In the midst of all this strife, Benno remained a zealous diocesan bishop. He preached frequently, visited his diocese, enforced discipline, and abolished simony as much as possible. He was also an accomplished musician, who was especially devoted to the chants of his native Hildesheim. He also found the time and the energy to write exegetical works on the Gospels.

Before obeying one summons to Rome, he took the precaution of bidding two trusty canons to lock his cathedral doors in case Henry should try to occupy it and throw the keys into the Elbe. He did. When the bishop returned the keys were recovered--under the fin of an obliging fish.

In his later years he preached to the Wends. Bishop Benno was buried in his cathedral. When the cathedral was rebuilt in 1285, his relics were translated--an occasion of many cures. When Saxony became Protestant, the bishop translated Benno's relics to his castle at Stolp. From there they were moved to Munich in 1580, at which time Benno became the patron of the city.

Benno's life was written in 1512 by Jerome Emser, a doctor of canon law, author of a dialogue as to whether potation is to be tolerated in a properly constituted State, and of tracts against the more spiritual intemperances of Luther and Zwingli. Benno's canonization in 1525 roused Luther to fury. In response he composed a diatribe against his cultus, which was refuted by Jerome Emser (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Farmer).

The following story is related about Saint Benno (His erudite frog in the story had to know his Pliny to catch the allusion.)

"It was often the habit of the man of God to go about hte fields in meditation and prayer; and once as he passed by a certain marsh, a talkative frog was croaking in its slimy waters: and lest it should disturb his contemplation, he bade it to be a Seraphian, inasmuch as all the frogs in Seraphus are mute. But when he had gone on a little way, he called to mind the saying in Daniel: 'O ye whales and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord. O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the Lord.'

"And fearing lest the singing of the frogs might perchance be more agreeable to God than his own praying, he again issued his command to them, that they should praise God in their accustomed fashion: and soon the air and the fields were vehement with their conversation" (Emser).

In art, Saint Benno is a bishop holding a fish with the keys of Meissen Cathedral in its mouth. At times the fish may be laying on a book and hold two keys (Roeder). Benno is the patron of cloth weavers, fishermen (Roeder), and Munich (Farmer).

Berthaldus, Hermit (AC)
(also known as Bertaud, Berthold)
Died c. 540. Saint Berthaldus was a hermit in the Ardennes who was ordained a priest by Saint Remigius. The town of Chaumont grew up around his titular abbey and church in the diocese of Rheims. Many miracles occurred at his death. Several popes, including Nicholas VI in 1451 and Paul II in 1466, have granted indulgences for pilgrimages to his shrine (Benedictines, Montague).

Cettin of Oran B (AC)
(also known as Cethach, Cethagh)
5th century. Saint Cettin was consecrated by Saint Patrick as auxiliary bishop. Some authorities distinguish Cethagh and Cettin, but they appear to be the same person. His shrine at Oran was a pilgrimage center for 13 centuries (Benedictines, Montague).

Colman McRoi, Abbot (AC)
6th century. The deacon Saint Colman was a disciple of Saint Columcille. He founded and governed the abbey at Reachrain (now called Lambay Island) in Dublin (Benedictines).

Curig of Wales B (AC)
6th century. There is a confusion of many saints with similar names to Curig. Nevertheless, he is believed to have been bishop of Llanbadarn, Wales, where several churches are dedicated to his honor (Benedictines).

Cyricus and Julitta (Giulietta) MM (RM)
(Cyricus also known as Cyr, Cyriacus, Quiriac, Quiricus)
Died 304. Although the legend of Julitta and Cyricus was proscribed by pseudo-Gelasius, it still persists in various forms. We are told that when persecution was raging against Christians under Diocletian, a wealthy and pious noblewoman named Julitta was widowed with a three-year-old son named Cyricus. As a Christian Julitta decided that life in her native Iconium in Lycaonia was too dangerous.
Taking Cyricus and two maids, she fled to Seleucia and to her alarm found that the governor there, Alexander, was savagely persecuting Christians. The four fugitives journeyed on to Tarsus in Antioch. Unfortunately, Alexander was paying a visit to that city when the fugitives were recognized and arrested.

Julitta was put on trial. She brought her young son with her to the courtroom. She refused to answer any questions about herself, except to say that she was a Christian. The court pronounced its sentence: Julitta was to be stretched on the rack and then beaten.

The guards, about to lead Julitta away, separated Cyricus from his mother. The child was crying, and Alexander, in a vain attempt to pacify him, took Cyricus on his knee. Terrified and longing to run back to his mother, Cyricus kicked the governor and scratched his face. Alexander stood up in a rage and flung the toddler down the steps of the tribune, fracturing the boy's skull and killing him.

Cyricus's mother did not weep. Instead she thanked God and went cheerfully to torture and death. Her son had been granted the crown of martyrdom. This made the governor even angrier. He decreed that her sides should be ripped apart with hooks, and then she was beheaded. Both she and Cyricus were flung outside the city, on the heap of bodies belonging to criminals, but the two maids rescued the corpses of the mother and child and buried them in a nearby field.

There is some evidence for an otherwise unknown child-martyr named Cyricus at Antioch, and it may have been about him that this fictitious tale was evolved in several different versions. There are places named after Cyricus all over Europe and the Middle East, but without the name Julitta attached. As early as the sixth century the acta of Cyricus and Julitta were rejected in a list of apocryphal documents (the list was formerly attributed to Pope Saint Gelasius I).

Cyricus is the Saint-Cyr found in several French place names, where his cultus is strong because some relics were brought back from Antioch by the 4th-century Bishop Saint Amator of Auxerre. A Nivernaise story that is reproduced in the Golden Legend also fuels the flames of devotion. According to this tale, Blessed Charlemagne dreamed he was saved from death by a wild boar during a hunt by the appearance of a child, who promised to save him from death if he would give him clothes to cover his nakedness. The bishop of Nevers interpreted this to mean that he wanted the emperor to repair the roof of the cathedral dedicated to Saint Cyr. From this story comes the iconographic emblem of a naked child riding on a wild boar (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia, Farmer, Husenbeth).

In art, Saint Julitta leads Cyricus by the hand. The pair may also be shown (1) as Cyricus is dashed to the ground by Alexander and a fountain springs from his blood; (2) as a fountain springs from Julitta's blood; (3) with Julitta burned at the stake; (4) with oxen near Julitta; (5) with Cyricus mounted on a wild boar; or (6) as Julitta holds a cross and palm (Roeder). The oldest known representations of Cyricus is a series of frescoes (8th century) at Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome. A 12-century antependium at the Museum of Barcelona depicts scenes from the legend, as do stained- glass windows at Issoudun (Farmer).

Felix and Maurus (AC)
Born in Palestine, 6th century. Felix and his son Maurus made a pilgrimage to Rome. Thereafter they settled at a place now named after the father, San Felice, near Narni, Italy (Benedictines).

Ferreolus and Ferrutio MM (RM)
Died c. 212. Ferreolus, a priest, and Ferrutio, a deacon, are said to have been brothers who were native to Asia Minor. They were sent by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, who had ordained them, to evangelize the country around Besançon, France. After working in the mission field for 30 years and then were tortured and beheaded during the persecution of Severus. Saint Gregory of Tours says, that their relics were glorified by miracles in his time, including his brother-in-law who was cured of a dangerous distemper at their intercession. Their relics are still treasured in the cathedral of Besançon (Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Husenbeth).

Blessed Guy (Guido) Vignotelli, OFM Tert. (AC)
Born in Cortona, Italy, c. 1185; died c. 1245. After hearing a sermon by Saint Francis, the wealthy Guy invited Francis home for a meal. At the end of the meal he asked to become a disciple. He liquidated his goods and with Francis distributed the money among the poor. Guy received the Franciscan habit of a tertiary from the order's founder, was ordained a priest, built a cell on a bridge near Cortona, and lived there. He became well known for his holiness and for his miracles, which were said to include resuscitating a girl who had drowned and multiplying food during a famine. At age 60, Saint Francis appeared to him in a dream and foretold his death--the exact hour at which Guy died (Benedictines, White).

Ismael (Ysfael, Osmail) B (AC)
6th century. Saint Ismael, according to the Life of Oudoceus (Teilo), was a disciple of Saint Teilo, who consecrated him "bishop of Menevia" to succeed Saint David. We are told that he was the son of Prince Budic of Cornouaille, who was forced into exile in Dyfed. Budic returned to Brittany, but his sons later returned to Wales where each became the disciple of another saint. There are several churches in Wales (Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire) dedicated to his honor (Benedictines, Farmer).

John Francis Regis, SJ (PC)
(also known as Jean-François Regie)
Born at Fontcouverte near Narbonne, Languedoc, France, on January 31, 1597; died at La Louvesc in Dauphine, France, on December 30, 1640; canonized in 1737; feast day formerly December 31; he may have another feast on July 2.

While John Francis Regis was born into a family of landed gentry, he preferred the company of humble people. His father was a prosperous merchant. He attended the Jesuit college of Béziers before seeking admission into the Society of Jesus when he was 18. After a successful year as a novice, John Francis went to study at Cahors, Le Puy, Auch, and Tournon. While in Tournon, he accompanied the priest who served the town of Andance on Sundays and holidays, and his catechism instruction was so effective that he inspired the parents through their children.

He returned to Toulouse to begin his theology course, and he spent much of each night in prayer. The plague raged in the town for four consecutive years and he was sent into the country. Finally, he was ordained in 1631. He tended the plague-stricken in Saint James Hospital in Toulouse, where "he did the most menial tasks in the kitchens with greater willingness and pleasure than vain people derive from the glory of dignified offices." But when his companion in this work died, he was sent to Pamiers to teach.

So successful was the preaching of John Francis Regis that, in 1632, he was commissioned to devote himself entirely to evangelization of the illiterate farmers in the diocese of Montpellier. The area had suffered tragically during the Wars of Religion, which ended in France with the Edict of Nantes in 1598. The Huguenots had overrun the churches and many Catholics had abandoned their faith. The rest of his life was spent in this missionary work among the lapsed. He worked in Languedoc, throughout the Vivarais, and ended in Velay.

To some people his preaching was "banal and common, mediocre and crude, and even quite vulgar." To such people he appeared as a "man of wretched appearance, dressed in tattered clothes, without any talent for preaching. . . . Father Regis, no matter how saintly he may be, is a disgrace to his ministry because of the triviality and indelicacy of his language."

One of his colleagues said, "Ah, how vainly do we study to polish and ornament our sermons! Crowds hasten to hear the simple catechisms of this man and conversions multiply, while our own studied eloquence produces nothing."

This tall, attractive, physically strong man had a simple, homely style of preaching that drew large crowds. He gained the confidence of the people by speaking to them in their own patois. While people of all ranks were eager to hear him, Regis preferred a congregation of poor and unlettered people, saying "the rich never lack confessors." There was little that he would not do for the poor, and when he was warned that by doing so he appeared foolish, he responded, "So much the better."

He was as severe with himself as he was gentle with others. He loved the poor and wished to associate himself with them. He never ate meat or fish, and his usual diet was apples and black bread. But sometimes there were so many penitents after his preaching, he had no time for any meal. "I cannot remember my dinner," he said, "when I am ministering to these poor wounded souls." Like his admirer, the Curé d'Ars, he spent long hours in the confessional and slept no more than three hours a night. Among the many mortifications he inflicted upon himself, he used to expose his hands to the freezing cold "so that they were sometimes so red and blotched that they aroused compassion."

For ten years he preached his way through France with simplicity, joy, emotion, and fierceness. He concentrated his efforts on the Auvergne and Languedoc. In the summer he preached in the towns and in winter he evangelized in the villages, when the farmers had time to listen. In Montpellier he converted several Huguenots and many lapsed Catholics, and also established hostels for fallen women, called "Daughters of Refuge," for which he was physically assaulted numerous times.

Among his converts were people of wealth and distinction. At Puy Regis devoted himself to the care of the poor, the sick, and prostitutes. He helped the young country girls who did not want to leave the city but could not find employment by providing them materials with which they could make a living. They worked at home, making lace, embroidering, and doing other types of needlework. Regis collected and sold the work for them at the best possible price.

To handle the rest, Regis made two lists: one of those in need, and the other a register of the devout who were ready to engage in acts of charity. This was the beginning of his social service called the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. To the ladies of high society he offered the "gift" of a few hungry mouths to feed. To others he sent notes such as: "Sir, you will provide food for the poor people who names are listed below and you will give them six sous for their lodging. If you are unable to provide them with food, you will give them a further six sous so that they may buy it themselves. For this is the decision that has been made by the office of the poor at the town hall on May 9, 1631." Pretty audacious, isn't it?

Not really; for the simple reason that he engaged others with his unstinted enthusiasm. Regis established a granary for the poor. Several times it was miraculously refilled. He called for nurses and doctors, asked pharmacists to provide medicine, sought out guardians of the poor, and assigned overseers of prisons to ensure humane conditions. Nothing could deter him: vermin, ulcers, outbreaks of plague. He faced them all and entered hovels and hospitals "with joy, as if he were entering a palace."

He became the infirmarian of sick bodies and sick souls. When a Jesuit visiting from Lyons asked Regis to show him the most interesting sights of Puy, the saint took him to see a sick pauper who "was rotting in his bed." Afterwards the visitor reported, "I was more pleased than if I had seen all the wonders of Europe." Occasionally John effected miraculous cures by commanding something as simple as: "Fever, leave this young girl for she needs her health to earn her living." And the girl was immediately cured. He did not put much stock in this kind of miracle. He was known to say: "Every time that God converts a hardened sinner he is working a far greater miracle."

His greatest effort, however, was the establishment of the Daughters of the Refuge in imitation of Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, who opened the Refuge of Saint Martha at Rome for repentent women. When Regis experimented with the idea at Montpellier, he placed the girls in private homes, but found it necessary to house them under one roof. His second and more important Refuge was at Puy. He succeeded with these women because he treated them "in a manner full of honor and respect. . . . So great was his deference and politeness that he might have been talking to queens." The refuge for women and girls was endangered by the vindictive slander of unprincipled people who had lost the supply of females that they wished to exploit, and his activities were stopped for a time. But the bishop of Puy, Just de Serres, stoutly defended Regis before the rector of the Jesuit College.

But Regis did not limit himself to healing bodies; souls were more important. The regions of the Vivarais had experienced civil and religious discord, and the people had become uncivilized. Churches were neglected and some parishes had not received the sacrament for twenty years. In the course of a three-year ministry launched by Bishop de la Baume and his assistants, with John traveling a day or so ahead of them, the mission returned the area to religious observance, in addition to converting a large number of Protestants.

Charges made by those who resented his zeal. Such "signs of simplicity and indiscretion" were forbidden and he was ordered to make reparation by "being recalled to the College from the mission where he is conducting himself so badly." Nor was that enough for "he must also be punished in proportion to his fault." These accusations came close to causing his recall, but the excellent bishop of Viviers, Louis de Suze, recognized them for what they were: the attack of lethargic priests whose comfort had been disturbed. After this, Regis asked to be allowed to go to Canada. But the answer from the Jesuit general in Rome, Father Vitelleschi, was categorically: "Your Canada is the Vivarais."

And, indeed, it was as difficult to evangelize these former Catholics and Huguenots as it would be those who had never heard the name Jesus. In 1629, the Edict of Alès reneged on the guarantees made in the Edict of Nantes. Protestants were now deprived of the "places of security" they had been promised. Those who refused to surrender were subject to the "Dragonnades"--a persecution whereby "dragons" (soldiers) were quartered in Protestant homes with permission to behave as badly as they willed. It was very difficult for a missionary to follow in the wake of these troops and encounter the bitter hostility of the Protestants. Nevertheless, Regis continued. He sought out the peasants in the mountains, slept in barns and forests, often lost his way, and wherever he went he kindled a flame of evangelism. Men hung on his words, were moved by his very presence, and came in their need to seek his guidance and blessing.

One day as he was leaving the church after preaching, he found a group of weary peasants waiting at the gate. "We have walked all night," they said, "we have come 12 leagues to hear you, and now we are too late!" Though Regis himself was exhausted, he answered, "No, my children, you are not too late. Come with me." And returning with them into the church, he preached to them with his usual power.

On another occasion, a Jesuit father, on a journey, saw from a hilltop a swarm of people approaching in the distance and, as they came nearer, heard them singing. He enquired what it meant, and was told: "It is the saint followed by the inhabitants of whole villages who cannot leave him." As he was about to proceed on his way, he was overtaken by another crowd, approaching from the opposite direction. "And who are these?" he asked. "We are going out to meet the saint," was their answer.

When he reached his destination he found the small town full of excitement, with lines waiting at the church doors. Again he asked and again received the answer: "The saint! We are waiting to hear the saint." Then he remembered how in the ancient days men came to Christ from every quarter and the common people heard Him gladly. "That man," said one who went to hear Regis, "is full of God. I do not know his equal. I would walk forty leagues to hear him."

In mid-September 1640 (age 43), Regis had a premonition of his death. He spent the next three days in retreat, made a general confession, and continued his mission to Louvesc, a remote mountain village. Thus, on a cold December day, he travelled to his last mission. Overtaken by a snowstorm, he slept that night in a wayside barn and developed pleurisy. The next day he continued his journey in great pain and discomfort.

They reached the village on Christmas Eve and travelled directly to the church, where Regis began to preach immediately without stopping to rest. He spent the whole of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day without intermission conducting services, preaching, and giving counsel. Zealous to save souls, the following day he preached three times in the draughty church and contracted pneumonia. On leaving the pulpit the third time, he fainted. Four days later he died, his last words were: "Jesus, my Savior, I recommend my soul to You."

John Francis Regis was one of those saints, like the Curé d'Ars and Saint Vincent de Paul, who was eminently likeable and approachable. He is one of those saints for whom sanctity is not a personal adventure but something which is to be put to the service of others. His tomb is still the destination of thousands of pilgrims each year (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia, Gill, Farmer, White).

In art, he is a Jesuit wearing a leather cape and holding a staff surmounted by a crucifix. He is venerated in the Auvergne, particularly Montfauçon and Puy (Roeder). A contemporary portrait shows that Regis was a handsome, distinguished-looking man. John Francis Regis is the patron of lace-makers (Encyclopedia).

Lutgardis of Aywières, OSB Cist. V (RM)
Born at Tongres, Brabant, the Netherlands, in 1182; died at Aywières, June 16, 1246.

Lutgardis is a very sympathetic and lovable figure among women mystics of the 12th and 13th centuries. She was sent to the Black Benedictine convent of Saint Catherine near Saint Trond when she was 12 years old, presumably because her dowry had been lost in a business venture. She had no particular vocation to the religious life, but with no dowry there was little hope of finding a suitable husband. One day, however, the pretty girl who was fond of fine clothes and innocent amusements, experienced a vision of Christ that changed her outlook on life.

He appeared while she was entertaining a friend, showed her His wounds, and asked her to love only Him. Instantly she accepted Jesus as her Bridegroom and, at the age of 20, she became a Benedictine nun. Many of her sisters were skeptical that her sudden fervor would last, but it only increased over time.

So vivid did God's presence become to her that, when engaged in prayer, she saw Jesus as she would with her bodily eyes. She would speak with Him familiarly. If summoned away to perform some task she was say, quite simply, "Wait here, Lord Jesus, and I will come back as soon as I have finished this duty." During the next 12 years, she experienced numerous ecstasies, during which she had visions of our Lord, our Lady, and several of the saints. She levitated and dripped blood from her forehead and hair when she shared in the Passion of Christ.

Though the nuns of Saint Catherine's wanted to make her abbess, in 1208, she left in quest of a stricter rule and became a Cistercian at their convent in Aywières near Brussels. Although she would have preferred a German-speaking house, she selected Aywières on the advice of her confessor and her friend, Saint Christine the Astonishing, who was living at Saint Catherine's that time. Later, her inability to speak French in a French-speaking house gave her a good excuse to refuse the office of abbess.

She lived there the 30 remaining years of her life, famed for her spiritual wisdom. God endowed her with the gifts of healing and prophecy, as well as an infused knowledge of the meaning of Holy Scriptures. Despite her imperfect French, she had great success at imparting spiritual consolation. She was blind the last 11 years of her life and accepted the affliction as a joyful gift from God to assist her in detaching herself from the visible world.

Jesus appeared to Lutgardis and told her when and how she was to prepare for death. She was to praise God for what she had received; pray unremittingly for the conversion of sinners; and rely on God alone for all things while awaiting the time she would possess Him forever. Saint Lutgardis died as predicted: On the Saturday night after the feast of the Holy Trinity, just as the night office for Sunday was beginning.

Lutgardis is considered one of the leading mystics of the 13th century. Many visions and mystical experiences are recorded of her, but her almost contemporary biographer was somewhat credulous (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Merton, Walsh).

In art, Christ shows Saint Lutgardis His wounded Heart to blind the Cistercian nun. At times, she may be shown (1) as Christ shows His wounds to the Father; (2) as Christ shows her His wounded side; (3) as Christ extends His hand to her from the crucifix; (4) as a blind Cistercian abbess (she was not an abbess, but is sometimes represented as such) (Roeder). She is venerated in Tongres, Brabant, and is invoked in childbirth (Roeder).

Similian (Sambin) of Nantes B (RM)
Died 310. Saint Gregory of Tours testifies to the sanctity of this third bishop of Nantes in Brittany, France (Benedictines).

Simplicius of Bourges B (AC)
Died March 1, 477. Simplicius was a husband and father of a large family when the local bishops elected him to the episcopate of Bourges. He defended the Church against the Arian Visigoths and the ambitions of lay magnates (Benedictines).

Tychon of Cyprus B (RM)
(also known as Tikhon of Amathus)
Died c. 450. The life of Tychon, an early bishop of Amathus, Cyprus, was recorded by Saint John the Almsgiver. He energetically fought against the last remnants of paganism in the island, especially against the cult of Aphrodite (Attwater, Benedictines).